The
Meaning of Raksha Bandhan:
The
meaning of 'Raksha Bandhan' is 'a bond
of protection'. It is a celebration of relationship - that of a brother and a
sister. This relationship is no where so celebrated as in India. It is a day
when siblings pray for each others' well being and wish for each other’s
happiness and goodwill.
On this auspicious day,
brothers make a promise to their sisters to protect them from all harms and
troubles and the sisters pray to God to protect their brother from all evil.
Sisters tie the silk thread called Rakhi on their brother's wrist and pray for
their well being and brothers promise to take care of their sisters. The
festival falls on the Shravan Purnima which comes generally in the month of
August. This year it falls on 2nd August.
Raksha Bandhan is also
called Rakhi Purnima in most of India. It is also celebrated in
some parts of Pakistan. The festival is observed by Hindus, Sikhs and some
Muslims.
The
Significance:
Raksha
Bandhan is now considered as a day to celebrate the sacred relation of a
brother and a sister. Yet there have been examples in history where in rakhi
has just been a raksha or protection. It could be tied by wife, a daughter or
mother. The Rishis tied rakhi to the people who came seeking their blessings.
The sages tied the sacred thread to themselves to safe guard them from the
evil. It is by all means the 'Papa Todak, Punya Pradayak Parva' or the day that
bestows boons and end all sins as it is mentioned in the scriptures.
Some people tie Rakhi
to neighbours and close friends signifying a peaceful co-existence of every
individual. Rakhi Utsav was first popularized by Rabindranath Tagore to promote
the feeling of unity and a commitment to all members of society to protect each
other and encourage a harmonious Social life.
Unrelated boys and men
who are considered to be brothers (munh-bola bhai or adopted
brothers) can be tied rakhis, provided they commit to a lifelong obligation to
provide protection to the woman or girl.
Historical occurrences and mentions:
1. Santoshi
Ma:
Jai Santoshi
Maa. Ganesh had two sons, Shubh and Labh. On Raksha Bandhan,
Ganesh's sister visited and tied a rakhi on Ganesh's wrist. Feeling and his two
wives, Riddhi and Siddhi, for a sister. Finally, Ganesh conceded the demand,
and Santoshi Ma (literally the Mother Goddess of Satisfaction) was created
by divine flames that emerged from Riddhi and Siddhi.
2. Krishna
and Draupadi:
Another
incident from the epic Mahabharat concerns Krishna and Draupadi,
the wife of the Pandavas. She had once torn a strip of silk off her sari and
tied it around Krishna's wrist to staunch the bleeding from a battlefield
wound. Krishna was touched by her action and declared her to be his sister,
even though they were unrelated. He promised to repay the debt and then spent
the next 25 years doing just that. Draupadi, in spite of being married to five
great warriors and being a daughter of a powerful monarch, trusted and depended
wholly on Krishna. Krishna repaid the debt of love during the
"Cheer-Haran" (literally "clothing-removing") of Draupadi,
which occurred in the assembly of King Dhritarashtra when Yudhisthira lost
her to the Kauravas in
gambling. At that time, Krishna indefinitely extended her saree through divine
intervention, so it could not be removed, to save her honor. This is how he
honored his rakhi vow towards Draupadi.
3. King Bali
and Goddess Laxmi:
According
to a legend the Demon King Bali was
a great devotee of Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu had taken up the task to guard his kingdom
leaving his own abode in Vaikunth. Goddess Lakshmi
wished to be with her lord back in her abode. She went to Bali disguised as a
woman to seek refuge till her husband came back.
During the Shravan
Purnima celebrations, Lakshmi tied the sacred thread to the King. Upon being
asked, she revealed who she was and why she was there. The king was touched by
her goodwill for his family and her purpose and requested the Lord to accompany
her. He sacrificed all he had for the Lord and his devoted wife.
Thus devotion to the
Lord. It is said that since then it has been a tradition to invite sisters in
Shravan Purnima for the thread tying ceremony or the Raksha Bandhan.
4. Yama and
the Yamuna:
According
to another legend, Raksha Bandhan was a ritual followed by Lord Yama (the
Lord of Death) and his sister Yamuna, (the river in northern India).
Yamuna tied rakhi to Yama and bestowed immortality. Yama was so moved by the
serenity of the occasion that he declared that whoever gets a rakhi tied from
his sister and promised her protection, will become immortal.
Alexander the Great and
King Puru
According to one
legendary narrative, when Alexander the Great invaded India in 326
BC, Roxana (or Roshanak, his wife) sent a sacred thread to Porus, asking him
not to harm her husband in battle. In accordance with tradition, Porus,
a Katoch king,
gave full respect to the rakhi. On the battlefield, when Porus was about to
deliver a final blow to Alexander, he saw the rakhi on his own wrist and
restrained himself from attacking Alexander personally.
5. Rani
Karnavati and Emperor Humayun:
A
popular narrative that is centered around Rakhi is that of Rani
Karnavati of Chittor and Mughal Emperor Humayun,
which dates to 1535 CE. When Rani Karnavati, the widowed queen of the king of
Chittor, realised that she could not defend against the invasion by the Sultan
of Gujarat, Bahadur Shah, she sent a Rakhi to
Emperor Humayun.
Touched, the Emperor immediately set off with his troops to defend Chittor. Humayun
arrived too late, and Bahadur Shah managed to sack the Rani's fortress.
Karnavati, along with a reported 13,000 other women in the fortress, carried
out Jauhar on
March 8, 1535, killing themselves to avoid dishonor while the men threw the
gates open and rode out on a suicidal charge against Bahadur Shah's troops. When
he reached Chittor, Humayun evicted Bahadur Shah from fort and restored the
kingdom to Karnavati's son, Vikramjit Singh. Although contemporary
commentators and memoirs do not mention the Rakhi episode and some historians
have expressed skepticism about it, it is mentioned in one mid-seventeenth century
Rajasthani account.
COURTESY: raksha-bandhan.com;
Wikipedia.com
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